The Most Important Thing In Your Career Is Control Over Your Time
Work a lot. Or a little. As long as it’s up to you.
Money. Fancy title. Prestige. If you’re ambitious, these seem like the ultimate goals. That you’re so good at what you do that you’re paid well, promoted, and respected by your peers.
Yet a lot of people reach the top, look around, and realize it wasn’t what they wanted. They’re not fulfilled. Why?
Because they’ve lost something in the process: control over their time.
They become boxed into long hours, leaving no time for anything else.
I’ve done the hustle thing. I’ve been an executive and now I’m a solopreneur. I always put time at the forefront, and it has impacted my entire career, from the jobs I’ve taken to my pricing to clients.
Instead, spend your time wisely and you’ll end up with the career you want and you’ll be the boss of your own time.
You can hustle to get ahead.
Full disclosure: I’m not a fan of hustle culture. I think nonstop go-go-go is a recipe for burnout.
But I have hustled throughout my career — strategically.
The biggest hustles were when I pivoted from one career to another and when I struck out on my own.
I was starting over. I had some catching up to do.
(And there is nothing quite like starting your own business to drive a hustle mindset!)
Truthfully, I hustled much earlier in my career also, earning myself several promotions at a tech company, eventually rising to a 3-person executive team. Looking back, I wouldn’t say it was a mistake, but I was definitely working hard and not sure if I was working smart.
With my more recent hustles, the grind was temporary. I had specific goals in mind. As soon as I got what I wanted, I slowed down to a reasonable pace.
My time was still mine. I decided when to start hustling and when to stop. If I’d wanted to keep going, I could have. And I probably will again in the future.
But the hustle was coming from within. Not from an employer forcing me to work long hours for the dangled carrot of a promotion. Not from clients demanding more of my time. It was all me, and my goals.
You can invest in yourself.
Continuous learning is critical for any career. If you don’t stay current and adapt, you’ll end up hitting a ceiling (or the subject of a “Kids these days…” meme).
Most employers don’t offer enough learning opportunities. To them, time spent learning is not time making money — even if it has the potential for more money in the future.
When I first pivoted from tech to content marketing, I worked at a marketing agency. The agency knew I didn’t have the same background as my teammates but assured me it would be no problem. They could teach me those skills.
The problem? Absolutely no one had time to teach me.
I would have floundered (maybe failed) if I hadn’t taken it upon myself to learn.
Much earlier in my career, when I was still in tech, I took an online SQL course through the local community college. I knew I needed to learn SQL, if I wanted to get promoted.
I was spending my own time — not my employer’s time — to learn.
But by doing that, I maintained control. I wasn’t beholden to the employer’s timetable or the courses an employer deemed the best fit. I picked my own coursework and my own pace. I could choose to learn skills that would benefit not only that employer, but any work in the future.
A short-term commitment for a long-term gain.
You can set your own goals, such as taking one online course each quarter. There are plenty of free options out there, sometimes only taking up a few hours of your time. You can read resources. Or join a cohort.
Don’t wait for an employer to invest in you because it won’t happen.
Anna Burgess Yang
You can embrace flexibility.
The ultimate career control is a flexible work environment.
Truly, nothing beats it. Not everyone is productive between the hours of 9am and 5pm. If you can control your work schedule, you can work at a time of day that’s best for you.
In 2010, my employer implemented a work model that focused on results, not time. Any employee could work any hours they chose, as long as work got done.
I’ll admit, I’d been hustling the wrong way before that, putting in long hours to get ahead. Suddenly, my time was my own. If my work got done, I could spend my time doing other things (like hanging out with my infant son).
I started working much smarter. I evaluated my days and cut out unnecessary work and unnecessary meetings. I started using tools to automate redundant tasks.
Today, I can’t imagine anyone telling me how to spend my time. Or telling me that I need to “fill a bucket of time” like an 8-hour workday.
If you work efficiently, you can spend your time on other things. A side hustle. An online course. Your family. Or just taking a break.
You can gain a variety of experiences.
My career now spans more than 17 years. I spent 15 of those years at one company. And then in the two years following, I had jobs at two different marketing agencies and then launched my own businesses.
Time was on my side. And some of it was wasted.
Perhaps “wasted” isn’t the right word. Climbing the ladder to an executive role certainly gave me some invaluable experiences. But it also stunted my professional growth.
I became way too comfortable working for a single employer for that long. I only knew one way of doing things. And while I made some investments to learn on my own, there was an entire world of skills I could have gained if I’d simply gone elsewhere.
You can’t stretch yourself if you stay at one company too long, no matter how much you like the company.
Plus, most companies are unlikely to maintain a compensation structure that matches your tenure. And the onus shouldn’t be on the employee to have to ask for more money. The best way to get a raise is to leave.
The longer your career, the more time is on your side.
Think of an employer as a stepping stone instead of a destination. It’s one more course you can take, one more investment in yourself. Take what you can, stay long enough to soak up the additional skills that will help you get ahead, and then take those skills to the next employer. Or strike out on your own.
If you have career goals, they should be tied to you and your expertise, not an employer. The only way to gain a variety of experiences — the type that will make you truly unique in the marketplace — is to leave.